Your Council

Council Structure

The Parish Council consists of 9 Councillors and elects every four years. The next scheduled
election is May 2023.

Parish Councillors are responsible for deciding what services should be delivered within the
Parish and what policies should be implemented. Councillors also take responsibility for ensuring that the services provided are effective and well run and for bringing residents concerns to the attention of the council. Parish Councillors are not paid for the work that they do; it is a purely voluntary role, although they are able to claim expenses e.g. mileage.

The contact information of elected members is a matter of public record and the public can
contact individual members if they wish however, like most councils we prefer contact to be made through the Clerk as this can often produce a quicker response.

Parish Clerk

Clerk to the Council

The clerk is the council’s principal executive and adviser and, for Swanland Parish Council, is the
officer responsible for the administration of its financial affairs.

The clerk is not answerable to any individual councillor – not even the chairman. She is an
independent and unbiased employee of the council, recognising that the council is responsible for all decisions and taking instruction from the council as a body.

As the council’s proper officer, the clerk is responsible for implementing council policy; ensuring the council acts within the law; advising the council on all aspects of its work and may have delegated powers of decision making especially in urgent situations.

It is the clerk who prepares and posts notices, is responsible for writing the agenda and minutes, keeps the council’s records, deals with correspondence, arranges the council’s insurance and issues the precept.

The clerk has a key role in advising the council, and its members, on governance, ethical and
procedural matters.

Local Planning

Planning and Development Applications

The Local Planning Authority consults the Parish Council on all applications that have been received within the Parish boundary.

The Parish Council has no authority over the final decision and can only make a comment to either support, remain neutral or has concerns relating to the application.

Town and Parish councils have no planning powers.

They are statutory consultees with the same rights as a member of the public.

We can only comment on considerations such as the below:

Privacy issues including the overlooking of adjacent properties.

Loss of natural light, increased shadow footprints.

On and off-street parking

Safety issues relating to the public highway.

Changes to the level of traffic.

An increase or change in noise levels.

The design, appearance and materials used in the construction.

Previous planning decisions (including any appeals)

If you have any objections we strongly advise that you make your comments known to East Riding of Yorkshire Council by either writing to them or by commenting on the application directly via the Planning Portal.